Hair transplants

THE PRINCIPLE

The first attempts at hair transplants were in the 1950s.

The principle works like this: Hair from an area that is insensitive to male hormones is implanted in an area where the hair is sensitive to androgens. The bulbs – or hair roots – are insensitive to hormones and the new hair is now in place for life.

In 1985, when the first micro-graft transplants were performed, the procedure was expensive. It was also painful and took a long time.

Today, the technique is pain-free and we are highly skilled at the procedure, which can be done quickly. Prices have become affordable for almost all types of micro-graft transplants.
However, watch out for “cheap hair transplants” overseas, where medical skills and techniques may not have kept pace with constantly changing standards.

THE TECHNIQUE

The technique has come on leaps and bounds in the last three years.

Instruments can be now used to produce more micro-grafts whilst reducing handling and the risks of infection that might arise when working in teams of five or six technicians.

Hair is harvested painlessly from a very specific area of the scalp in the form of a strip using an instrument similar to that used for skin grafts.

This strip of scalp contains non-hormone-dependent bulbs that are genetically programmed for life. A precision microsurgical instrument allows a single specialist technician to prepare a large number of micro-grafts in just a few minutes.

Depending on the size of the graft, 3,000 to 10,000 bulbs are prepared on at least a thousand grafts measuring 1 to 1.2 mm2.

These micrografts remain fresh and are quickly reimplanted.
The surgeon will draw on their expertise to distribute these micro-grafts one-by-one, using a technique that guarantees good vascularisation and an excellent aesthetic result.

These roots will then produce particularly thick hair covering bald patches for life.

This technique, presented by Dr Villard at the Monaco congress, actually represents the small-scale mechanisation of the harvesting process, since the surgeon will harvest hairs one-by-one using a small circular scalpel measuring 1 to 1.2 mm in diameter.

This technique, which requires shaving the patient’s head, takes a little longer but allows grafts to be harvested and then reimplanted, just like microstrips.
The benefit of this technique is that it leaves practically no scars on the scalp at the donor site.

However, it takes two hours to harvest 400 bulbs and the donor site is a little larger than for the microstrip method.

This technique is used much more frequently for partial beard transplants or to correct small areas of hair loss.

At the end of the of the 20th century, the idea of removing balding skin and pulling across skin with hair was born.

This technique became more widespread with the introduction of the Frechet scalp expander.

The problem with the technique is that the hair used to cover the hairless area does not grow in the right direction.

This requires two procedures to create what is known as a flap rotation.

This complicated technique is
not without risk and has been abandoned by most professionals, particularly since micro autograft transplants have progressed to such an extent that they have largely replaced the so-called tonsure reduction method, which is deemed too unpredictable for cosmetic surgery.

Currently, there are no scientific studies showing that laser treatment results in hair loss. Some hair stylists and devices claim that exposing your scalp to red light, blue light or lasers of varying intensities will regrow hair. Alas, nowhere in the literature has this been shown to have a lasting effect. Hair transplants are still the most viable option for getting your hair back.